Rick Perry and the veepstakes (UPDATE)

Gov. Rick Perry has repeatedly said he’s not interested in the No. 2 slot on a presidential ticket, but he didn’t quite throw a bucket of warm spit on the idea of a Gingrich-Perry team.

Fox News over the weekend touted an exclusive report that “preliminary ‘what-if’ conversations are underway that could lead to a Gingrich-Perry ticket being announced prior to the Republican National Convention at the end of August.”

The idea was lofted ahead of the Alabama and Mississippi contests, which are important to Gingrich’s campaign. It got some attention even though Perry abandoned his presidential effort in January after a series of stumbles, and Gingrich’s campaign is currently lagging.

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said by e-mail, “My assumption is that the Perry gambit is to add to Gingrich’s appeal in Alabama and Mississippi. Newt has to win one or both of these states to continue his campaign. An all-South ticket might help a little. The chances that this ticket will ever come to be are tiny.”

Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said Monday there have been no such talks between Gingrich and Perry, adding that “we’re not at that point of the campaign.”

“In the Gingrich campaign, there is a tremendous amount of admiration for Gov. Rick Perry …. His endorsement in South Carolina will forever mean the world to us,” Hammond said. While the campaign’s not at that point, he added, “Certainly that doesn’t mean we at some point down the road wouldn’t put Gov. Perry on that list. … We certainly think he’s a tremendous asset to the party, to our campaign, and to the state of Texas.”

Perry spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said in a statement, “Gov. Perry thinks Newt Gingrich is the strongest conservative to debate and defeat President Obama and truly overhaul Washington. The speculation is humbling but premature.”

Perry previously rejected the idea of being anyone’s vice presidential pick in stronger terms, saying last summer before he announced his own White House bid, “John Nance Garner had a pretty good handle on that.”

Garner, a Texan who was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s vice president in 1933-41, is known for saying that the vice presidency was “not worth a bucket of warm spit.”

In an interview last month with the San Antonio Express-News/Houston Chronicle, Perry again professed no interest in that job or an administration post if a Republican wins the presidency.

Here’s a clip of his answer to that, and to a question about how much he’d be traveling out of state this year to promote issues he cares about: